Prefix -- 對對糊

mal-  ( 不正常；不當 )
malfunction ( 發生故障 ); malnutrition ( 營養失調 ); malpractice ( 誤治療 ); maltreat ( 虐待;酷使 ); malaria* ( 瘧疾 )
* bad air

mis-  (  差錯；失敗 )
misbehaviour ( 品行不端 ); miscarriage ( 流產 ); misguided ( 錯誤指導 ); misinform ( 誤傳 ); mismatch ( 配合錯誤 ); misplace ( 誤放 ); mistaken ( 誤會 ); misuse ( 誤用 )

pre-  ( 在...之前；先 )
predict ( 預言 ); prehistoric ( 史前 ); premarital ( 結婚前的 ); prenatal ( 出生以前的 ); prepaid ( 先付的 ); preschool ( 未滿學齡的 ); prevent ( 預防 ); preview ( 試演;預告片 )

post-  ( 在...之後 )
postgraduate ( 畢業後的 ); postnatal ( 出生後的 ); postpone ( 延期 ); postscript ( 附啟，後記 ); postwar ( 戰後的 )

super-  ( 超 )
superego ( 超自我 ); superficial ( 表面的 ); superhero ( 超級英雄 ); superintendent ( 監督人 ); superior ( 在上的 ); superlative ( 最高級的 ); supermarket ( 超級市場 ); supermodel ( 超級名模 ); supernatural ( supernatural ); superstar ( 超級明星 )

ultra-  ( 超 )
ultrasonic ( 超音波的 ); ultraviolet ( 紫外線的 )

multi-  ( 多的 )
multicultural ( 多種文化的 ); multilingual ( 用多種語言的 ); multimedia ( 多媒體 ); multiple ( 倍數 ); multitask ( 多任務 )

poly-  ( 多；眾；聚 )
polygamy ( 一夫多妻〔制〕 ); polygon ( 多角形 ); polytechnic ( 各種工藝 ); polytheism ( 多神論 ); polyester ( 多元酯 )

PREFIX -- 「相反」、「否定」有關

un-     unhappy
unable ( 無能 ); undone ( 未作的 ); undress ( 脫衣 ); unequal ( 不平等 ); unfair ( 不公平 ); unknown ( 未知 )
unacceptable ( 不能接受的 ); unconditional ( 無條件的 ); ungraceful ( 下流的 ); unimaginable ( 不能想傢的 ); unrealistic ( 不現實的 ); unwilling ( 不願意的 )

non-     nonfat ( 脫脂 )
nonexist ( 不存在的 ); nonsense ( 荒唐，無聊的東西，胡說 ); nonprofit ( 非弁利 ); nonstop ( 不停的 ); nonrefundable ( 不可退款的 ); nonsmoker ( 非吸煙者 ); nonviolence ( 非暴力 )

* 字首之後是字根，即本身是一個字。所以 united 的 un 就並非字首啊！
** 不少形容詞中，un- 用作負面意思 ( unprofessional )；而 non- 則中立 ( non-professional )。

im-     impolite
impossible ( 不可能 ); immature ( 未成熟的 ); immoral ( 不道德的 ); impatient ( 不耐煩的 );
imbalance ( 不平街 ); imperfect ( 不完關 ); immortal ( 不死的，非凡人的 ); impractical ( 不設實際的 )

in-     incorrect
incomplete ( 未完成 ); indirect ( 簡接 ); informal ( 非正式的，通俗的 ); insensitive ( 感覺遲鈍的 ); invalid ( 無效的 ); invisible ( 眼睛看不見的 )
inability ( 無能 ); inadequate ( 足 ); indecisive ( 優柔寡斷 ); insecure ( 不安全的，不堅固的 )
* in- 亦有「在...裹」之意。

**「雙唇音」加 im- 作否定；非「雙唇音」加 in- 作否定

il-     illegal ( 非法的 )
illegible ( = unreadable 難以辨應的 ); illicit ( 違法的，不正當后 ); illiterate ( 文盲 [認識 literature 文學嗎？] ); illogical ( 不合邏輯的 )

ir-     irresponsible ( 不負責任的 )
irrational ( 無理性的 ); irregular ( 不規則的，異常的 ); irrelevant ( 無關係的 ); irrespective ( 不顧的，無關的 )

* 同樣地以 'l' 開頭的字，加 il- 作否定；以 'r' 開頭的字，加 ir- 作否定

dis-     disagree
disadvantage ( 不利 ); disconnect ( 切斷 ); discourage ( 使沮喪 ); discover ( 發現 ); dishonest ( 不老實的 ); disobedient ( 不服從的 ); disregards ( 不理 ); disrespectful ( 不敬 )

* respective 與 respectful 不同

Prefix 字首 -- anti- & counter-

anti- 「防......」、「反......」、「抗......」

ballistic	彈道[學]的	adj	antiballistic	反彈道的	adj.
biotic	生物的	adj	antibiotic	抗生素	n	bio- = 生物，生命；biography 傳記 / biology 生物學 (-ology = 學)
body	身體	n	antibody	抗體	n
clockwise	順時針的	adj	anticlockwise	反時鐘方向的	adj	-wise = 方向 / 狀態 / 樣子；otherwise 不然 / 否則
coagulant	凝結劑	n	anticoagulant	抗凝血劑	n
depressant	鎮靜劑	n	antidepressant	興奮劑	n	depression 抑鬱症
freeze	凍結	v	antifreeze	抗凝劑	n	愣住 / [美口] 呆立不动
friction	摩擦	n	antifriction	潤滑劑	n
gas	氣體；毒氣	n	antigas	防毒氣的	adj	冒氣 / 放屁 / 汽油
gravity	重力；(地心)引力	n	anti-gravity	無重量[狀態]	n
lock	鎖	v	antilock	防鎖的	adj	[汽車] antilock braking system 防鎖功能
oxidant	氧化劑	n	antioxidant	抗氧化劑	n	美容用
septic	腐販性的	adj	antiseptic	防腐劑	n	消毒水
social	社交的；友善的	adj	antisocial	不善社交的	adj
terrorism	恐怖主義	n	antiterrorism	反恐怖主義	n	-ism = 主義
war	戰爭	n	antiwar	反戰的	adj

counter- 「反......」、「逆......」

act	行動	v	counteract	反動；妨礙；抵鎖	v
attack	攻擊	v/n	counterattack	反擊	v/n
change	改變	v/n	counterchange	交互作用；交互位置	v/n
check	檢查；阻止	v/n	countercheck	對抗；制止；復查	v/n
clockwise	順時針的	adj	counterclockwise	反時鐘方向的	adj
espionage	間諜活動	n	counterespionage	反間諜	n
example	實例；樣本	n	counterexample	反例	n
false	虛偽的；不法的	adj	countercounterfeit	防偽的；假冒的	adj
intelligence	情報；間諜	n	counterintelligence	反情報；反間諜	n
measure	手段；措施	n	countermeasure	對策；應付	n
terrorism	恐怖主義	n	counterterrorism	反恐怖主義	n

Vocabulary

生字係死記都記唔到。學數字 1,2,3... ，若從來都唔會用：又無數數量嘅練習，出街又唔計數 ... 咁又點會明，點會識用？生字一樣。

有一本 vocabulary notebook。平時閱讀時以前文後理理解文意，只有常出現嘅生字先查吓。查嘅時候，睇埋其他詞類。有時會發現一啲有趣嘅嘢，又或發現一種現象。Vocabulary notebook 只要簡唔中睇吓就夠。要鞏固對生字嘅記憶，應該係多閱讀先會有意思。要個腦記啲無意思嘅嘢就盞攪。所有咩加強記憶法呀，咩增強記憶法呀，都係基於呢個概念 (association)。如果情境與生字無聯繫，到時到候啲生字又點識跟住 (响腦到) 著彈出嚟呢？如果圖書館啲書無索引好，咁啲書又點塭到呢？BB 仔予生軀來予嘅超級模仿功能 (imitation) 好快就會變弱，所以記憶都需要有聯繫。

初級閱讀中國神話或古希臘神話都可以為認識好多動詞及形容詞，而且有趣，又能加強想像力。當然有深有淺，開頭揀能完會明白嘅 warm up 吓。對背景有一定了解後，再選比自己程度深少少。
(咪一開始揀經典名著，如果唔系就好似老外學中文，一開始就讀紅樓夢咁，盞攪！)

http://www.mythweb.com/

飛鷹

經常响我屋企見到呢啲鷹。

6 Basic Sentence Structures

1. subject + verb
He drives to his office

2. subject + verb + complement
He is a good football playerHe is good at football.

3. subject + verb + object
They ride bicycles to school.

4. subject + verb + object (indirect) + object
He showed me a new short cut

5. subject + verb + object + complement
It makes our teachers sad.

6. subject + verb + object + preposition + noun/pronounSomebody patted me on the shoulder.
They provided him with a room just for his own use.He had not informed me of his accomplishment earlier.I congratulated him on his achievement.

Verbs 1 基本 -- 翻譯通症狀

香港學生有好多都患上「翻譯通症狀」。即係當正英文係由中文演變出呢咁，中文句構，英文字。呢啲「爛英文」係因為學生無認真學習英文句構，有機會接觸英文時 ( 如看英文劇或電影 )，耳仔關掉，只用眼睇中文字幕。

一個 BB 仔學母語時會眼定定睇清楚口型，擘大耳仔聽清楚，再吖大口試講「嫲」。唔多似喎，再呢。眼定定睇清楚口型，擘大耳仔聽清楚，再吖大口試講「媽」。得咗！大人又會笑作鼓勵，於是又不停地講「媽 ...... 媽 ...... 媽 ...... 」鞏固記憶；全家人，朋友，親戚 ...... 不停咁刺激 BB 求存嘅模仿系統。好快 BB 已經可以駁嘴駁舌啦！

大個咗，大腦己有邏輯思維，可以以聯繫方式學習同記嘢。 BB 求存嘅模仿系統會漸漸消失。於是學習要有系統。但系多接觸及多練習先能反應自然同快。

I am very much agree with you. 呢啲咁嘅「翻譯通症狀」就唔會出現。

I	am	very much	agree	with you.
我	系	非常	同意	你。

老師成日講 Subject (主詞) + Verb (動詞) + Object (受詞) / Complement (補語) 有冇記低？--> 冇。因為老師成日講，駛乜記？但系同學有冇唸過你唔去記，唔去練，老師就要成日講。講得多，厭嘞，淨系話同學錯。

「咁點錯呢，你又唔講。」
「What？講咗 eight thousand times 喎。subject + verb + object 喎。呢到有兩個 verbs 喎。」
「，系喎。好似好熟喎。咁我唔識英文嘛。一時唔記得啫。」「你究竟系咪認真想學英文？要我講幾多次先記得？我一次過講夠佢嘞。如果我每重復一次你比 5 蚊我，我發咗啦！」
「學呢揾食咋。有冇快速學英文？」
「你 practise 多啲密啲咪快啲囉。有捷徑，無人唔識英文啦！你揾個鬼佬鬼婆做你老竇老母，扭計要錢都要講英文，包你兩個禮拜就會英語會話！」「唓！」

Verbs 3 -- Main vs Helping

	作 Main Verb (MV)主要動詞時	作 Helping Verb (HV) 輔助動詞時 (無字意)
be(am, is, are, was, were, being, been)	Linking verb「是」之意	1. (現在／過去) 進行式 Continuous Tensesubject + (be) + V-ing (present participle 現在分詞) ... e.g. Mary is/was eating her lunch.2. 被動話態 Passive Voicesubject + (be) + V (past participle 過去分詞) ... e.g. John is/was punished by the teacher.
have (have, has, had)	Action verb「擁有*」之意 *「有」在中文除「擁有」之外，還有「存在」的意思。而英語中「存在」要用 be 。e.g. There is a dog. --> A dog is over there. 真正的 subject 並非 there 而是 a dog 。	(現在／過去) 完成式 Perfect Tensesubject + have/has/had + past participle 過去分詞 e.g. He has/had been taking care of the poor dog for a year.
do(do, does, did)	Action verb「做」之意	只限主要動詞是 action verb 時： **若句字本身已有輔助動詞時，就直接將原有的輔助動詞取代 do 之位置。 1. 構否定句 negative formsubject + do/does/did + not + MV (infinitive 原型) ... e.g. Mum did not cook dinner.      Sue cannot ride a bike.2. 構問句 question form(question word) + do/does/did+ subject + MV (infinitive 原型) ...e.g. Why does Tom wake up so early?      Can Cindy play football?

Verbs 2 基本 -- 種類

		作用	例
可作主要動詞	Linking Verbs連接動詞	告訴你主詞「是」什麽	be, become, feel
	Action Verbs 動作動詞 及物 transitive verb 不及物 intransitive verb	告訴你主詞「做」什麽	sit, learn, close
不能單獨成句	Helping Verbs 輔助動詞	輔助作疑問句、否定句、不同時式或話態。本身無字意。	be, have, do
	Modal Verbs 情態動詞	表示情況或心情	can, must, have to

最簡單句型：

	Subject + verb + complement (noun)	Subject + verb + complement (adjectives)
e.g.	Susan is a teacher. 現在式Peter was her husband. 過去式	I feel happy. 現在式She was happy. 過去式

	Subject + verb (intr.)	Subject + verb (tr.) + object
e.g.	He signs. 現在式We stopped. 過去式	He hits the ball. 現在式They ate the pizza. 過去式

每一個部分都可以唔此一個。

多 subjects： Tom and his brother run to the hill. Tom 及 his brother (復數) 都作 run 這個動作，所以 run 無須加 s。

多 verbs：Panda eats, shoots and leaves.* Panda 不單只吃 (eats)，也開槍 (shoots) 及離開 (leaves)。分開 3 句即 Panda eats. Panda shoots. Panda leaves. 三個動作分亨同一個 subject  Panda，所以每個動作都必須加 s。

多 objects：Panda eats shoots and leaves.

[* 作者Lynne Truss 一書 Eats, Shoots, & Leaves 2003 我在 Toronto, Canada downtown Marche 傍一間書店列為 best-seller。封面有一熊貓爬上梯又有一熊貓揸槍。攪咩呢？攞呢睇吓。話說一熊貓到餐廳吃了件三文治就開槍離開。侍應實感奇怪，於是攔住熊貓問佢點解要咁做。熊貓比一本百科個書佢睇。侍應揭到 panda 嗰頁：

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons. “Why?” asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. “Well, I’m a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.” The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. “Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

話說一熊貓到餐廳吃了件三文治就開槍離開。侍應實感奇怪，於是問熊貓佢點解要咁做。熊貓比一本百科個書佢睇。侍應揭到 panda 嗰頁：熊貓是一隻像熊的黑白色哺乳動物，原產自中國。物們吃竹及竹葉。但無端瑞响 eats 同 shoots 之間多了個「，」即係本來作 objects 嘅 shoots 同 leaves 變成多個動詞 --> 吃、開槍及離開。]

Fair Trade

I was stopped by a university student (U.s.) outside IFC Starbucks. She asked if I could help her on the "Fair Trade" survey (of course in Chinese).

It isn't hard to understand what "fair trade" is but to what extent does "fair" go?

U.s.: Have you heard of the term "fair trade"?
Me:   Sounds familiar. May have heard.
U.s.: Do you have any idea what it means by "fair trade"?
Me:   The name says it all. No rocket science.U.s.: Do you know that Starbucks buy those coffee beans at a very low price from farmers?Me:   That's how business is done. To lower the basic cost as much as possible.
U.s.:  But if there's some cafes that sell coffee under "fair trade" conditions, would you rather buy coffee from there?
Me:   Well, as a consumer, it's coffee that I want. If they sell good coffee, plus under "fair trade" conditions, that would be perfect. But I wouldn't buy coffee from a coffee shop solely because it joins the Fair Trade. To the customers, if the quality of the product is bad, fair or not, doesn't matter anymore.
U.s.:  That's it. Thank you.

Stupid questions eh!? They have a perfect world in their mind. What's wrong buying primary material at a lower price? If farmers are deprived and coffee beans are bought at a price that barely covers the cost of production, this is a problem. Honestly, if Starbucks join the Fair Trade, I am more than glad and guilt-free to buy their a little bit more expensive coffee.